Still looking for the right broadband deal?
Frequently asked questions
How to switch to a better broadband deal
Our deals tables will show you a clear view of the monthly price and average speed of each offer, as well as the length of each contract. If there are any promotions such as bill credits or gift vouchers available, those will be clearly labelled as well.
You can also see a breakdown of the costs of each internet package — such as line rental, setup cost and total contract cost — by clicking on the “price details” button.
Make sure that you're happy with the contract length on display and look out for the out-of-contract prices your provider will charge once your contract ends. This information will help you plan the right time to find a new broadband deal.
If the end of your contract is approaching, but you'd like some more time to find the right deal and best internet provider for you, you can sign up for regular email updates from us at Uswitch to get expert insight and advice. We'll also show you some of the latest money-saving deals on our site.
How to compare Uswitch's best broadband deals
You can run your own Wi-Fi comparison by sorting our range of broadband deals by a number of different categories, including:
Deal popularity
Monthly price
Broadband speed
Broadband provider
Contract length
Download limits
Bundle options
You can also filter out deals that don't suit your needs based on speed, provider or included services to help you just see ones that matter to you.
It's also important to bear in mind the following when browsing home broadband packages from the most popular internet providers:
Broadband in your area:
Very few areas of the UK have access to every broadband package on the market. Enter your postcode and address into our
to find out what's available in your area.
Broadband and TV deals:
Bundling these services together into a single, sometimes cheaper, monthly payment could benefit you greatly if you regularly use both. But it's only worth it if you actually want to watch enough of the channels you get access to.
Type of connection:
The UK has a range of internet networks, including fibre-optic, copper ADSL, cable and mobile broadband — each of which has its pros and cons. You can find out more information on them below, or in our
.
Compare our best Wi-Fi deals to find the right package for your household.
When should I change my broadband provider?
When you last switched provider, you would probably have signed up for a fixed contract to use the service. These usually last between 12-24 months, and they commit you to use that service for the whole period.
If you try to cancel your home internet contract more than a month before its end date, you’ll likely be charged an early exit fee to make up the rest of the monthly payments you agreed to. However, if you’re cancelling because you have an unresolvable issue with your connection, your provider may waive these charges. But getting them to do this can be quite a long process.
So unless you’re not getting what you paid for, you should usually wait it out until the end of your contract if you want to avoid an expensive switch.
But make sure you know when that end date is, because if you stay on the same package after your contract finishes, you’ll also likely be charged expensive 'out of contract' fees. That's why you'll almost always be fiancially better-off by switching or recontracting your broadband.
Learn more about when you should switch broadband with our guide.
Will my prices go up mid-contract?
Unless you're with one of the few fixed price broadband providers, it's likely you'll have to deal with a price increase during your contract.
This year saw price rises of up to 8.8% for broadband, with most providers tying their price rises to the CPI rate of inflation at the start of 2024. However, from January 2025, Ofcom has banned inflation-linked price increases on new customer deals, so future price increases will be a fixed amount that is stated more clearly to you when you're signing up.
Most of the big brands like BT, Virgin Media, Plusnet, TalkTalk and Vodafone have annual price increases set in their contract terms, which means you can't cancel your contract with them early for free.
Others like Sky and NOW Broadband usually increase their prices too, but you can often cancel your contract early as a result without paying any exit fees.
Some providers (Hyperoptic, Cuckoo, Trooli and more) don't have any price increases at all during the length of their contracts.
Find out which providers do and don't increase your prices mid-contract.
What type of broadband connection do I need?
There are many types of internet you could choose from on Uswitch and elsewhere, all of which have different levels of speed and reliability. Have a read of each of them to see which one suits you best.
Fibre-optic broadband and full fibre
Fibre broadband is the most widely-used home broadband connection in the UK.
It's one of the fastest, most reliable types of broadband available in the country, and is available in some form to almost every UK property.
However, it's worth noting that there are two main types of fibre broadband in the UK:
Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC):
The cheaper but more widely available type of fibre broadband, this uses fibre-optic cables from your provider's exchange to your local street cabinet, and then swaps to the same copper phone lines as ADSL from there to your home. Over 96% of Brits can get these connections at their home, and they provide speeds of 30-70Mbps.
Full fibre:
Also known as 'fibre-to-the-premises' (FTTP), this is currently the fastest type of broadband you can get, with fibre-optic cables connecting all the way to your home and providing speeds from 100Mbps to all the way above 1Gbps (1000Mbps). Around one-third of UK homes can get these connections.
Learn more about full fibre broadband.
Find out what types of broadband are available in the UK.
Cable broadband packages
Cable broadband is based on fibre technology, but operates on a completely different network to the above types of fibre. It's serviced exclusively by Virgin Media in the UK, and currently reaches about 52% of UK homes.
It uses the same fibre-optic cables as other providers from the broadband exchange to the local street cabinet, but then connects its own 'coaxial' cables from the cabinet directly to your home.
This means you'll need an engineer to set up the connection at your home if it hasn't previously been installed.
Virgin Media's cable broadband is much faster than ADSL or FTTC broadband, providing UK customers with speeds of up to 1.1Gbps (1100Mbps). However, while full fibre speeds are currently about the same as this, full fibre is capable of being much faster in the future. The technology cable broadband relies will take a longer time to be capabke of higher speeds.
Learn more about cable broadband on our Virgin Media broadband deals page.
ADSL broadband
ADSL is the slowest type of broadband that's still widely available, because it relies completely on the UK's copper phone line network to reach your home. The letters stands for 'asymmetric digital subscriber line'.
ADSL broadband is still a great option for small households of people who don't use the internet very much, but it won't be able to handle the demands of most families nowadays.
If you have an active Openreach line, you can either choose broadband packages that offer standard ADSL, which the majority of internet providers in the UK sell, or ADSL2, which is slightly faster but less widely available. But you could also choose a superfast fibre connection if you want faster internet.
ADSL is the oldest internet technology that's still in regular use today, therefore it's also the slowest and, in most cases, the cheapest broadband connection type in regular use.
You’ll likely be able to get ADSL broadband in whichever property you move to in the future. But it’s always good to learn about what you should do if you're switching broadband while moving home.
Mobile broadband packages
Mobile broadband runs on 4G and 5G mobile phone networks, so it doesn't require any fixed-line cables to connect to the internet.
It's perhaps best suited to people who need fast broadband but their homes don't have access to fibre broadband, or those who need to get online while they're on the move.
5G is a newer mobile broadband technology that can offer ultrafast connection speeds roughly up to 300Mbps. But 4G, which supplies 24Mbps average speeds, is currently much more widely available.
Compare our Uswitch mobile broadband deals.
Find more ways you can get broadband without a landline.
Broadband and phone deals
Broadband and phones deals are very common, and it was pretty much the norm to get a landline added in with your internet services up until very recently.
If you regularly use a home phone to make and receive calls, it's definitely worth looking at our broadband and home phone deals page to see if you could find a great bundle deal.
What broadband speed do I need?
The two main factors to consider when determining the right speed are the number of users and the expected usage. Here are a few rough guidelines:
Below 30Mbps: 1 or 2 users, mainly web browsing
30-60Mbps: 3+ users, infrequent streaming and gaming
60-100Mbps: 5+ users, frequent HD streaming, multiple connections
100Mbps+: 8+ users, multiple simultaneous streaming, large downloads
Not sure what your current broadband speed is? Use our speed test tool to find out!
Do I need to cancel my old broadband?
This depends which type of broadband you're switching to.
You often won't have to cancel your old broadband because most deals use the same network. But if you're moving to (or from) full fibre or a Virgin Media package, you'll have to contact your current provider to cancel.
Uswitch doesn't handle your actual switch because broadband deals are purchased on the provider's website. If you're not sure whether you need to cancel, speak to your current provider to find out what you need to do.